新视界大学英语综合教程2 unit5

Leisure inactivities – or how to relax and do nothing

Warming up Skimming Digging Interpreting Critical thinking Unfamiliar words Language in use Talking point

Warming up

Listen and underline any words or expressions which

are different from what you hear. A: I didn’t see you in class this morning. B: I wasn’t there. I had a rough night, and was a bit too tired to come. A: That’s because you spend too much time partying. B: Not exactly, but I took some time off. I thought I’d go running in the woods behind campus, you know. A: Sounds like an interesting thing to do.

Warming up

B: Well, it is, especially at this time of year. You never know what you might see or hear. That’s why I took my camera and started waiting, and because you have to be quiet I got down under a tree and, er … A: Something happened? B: I must have fallen down a hole. The next thing I knew it was five o’clock in the morning and all the birds were singing. The problem with hobbies like mine is that they’re too dangerous. I need to do something more relaxing, like kung fu or mountain climbing …

Warming up

Now listen again and correct the information.Answer: 1) partying studying

2) 3) 4) 5)

running bird-watching camera type recorder down a hole asleep dangerous stressful

Warming up

Work in pairs and discuss the questions. What’s your idea of:

1 having a good time

2 an exciting hobby

3 a boring hobby

4 an unusual hobby

Warming up

Watch the video of how a Western botanist found Shangri-La. How do you spend your leisure time, do you also like traveling? Share your experience with the whole class.

Warming up Look at the title of the passage and answer the

questions. 1 What kind of activities do you expect the passage to talk about?

2 What kind of style do you expect it will be written in?Now read the passage and check your answers.

Skimming Task

◇ Browse the passage within 8 minutes to get a rough idea about it. ◇Answer the questions of Activity 2 and 3 on page 74.

Skimming

Choose the best definition.

b A couch potato is someone who _____. (a) doesn’t like sports but is active in other ways (b) takes no exercise, and spends their leisure time doing very little (c) enjoys doing energetic activities, but only at home (d) enjoys growing vegetables indoorsNow think of definitions for these things: 1 a leisure inactivity 2 a mouse potato 3 telly belly 4 mouse miles

Skimming

Answer: A leisure inactivity seems to be something you do in your free time which involves as little energy as possible, eg sleeping or being a couch potato. If one thinks of a computer mouse, the expression mouse potato becomes easy to understand – one who is always in front of the computer surfing the Net or playing games. The nicely rhyming telly belly refers to the result of being a television addict who also has a large stomach. Mouse miles refer to the miles of movements which a mouse moves on

the table and indicates how much time you’ve spent on the computer and how many activities you’ve had with your computer.

Skimming

Choose the best way to complete the sentences.

1 In the 19th century, British people had more time c off than in earlier times and _____. (a) they wanted to play more sports (b) they didn’t want to do anything useful (c) they wanted to do something useful and feel fulfilled (d) they didn’t want to do anything new

Skimming

a 2 Leisure inactivities usually involve _____. (a) very little contact with other people or physical activity (b) watching sport on TV (c) taking a day off work and staying at home (d) excessive amounts of time in front of a computer 3 For a couch potato getting interested in a TV d programme is unwise because _____. (a) you won’t use the remote control enough (b) you may run out of snacks and drinks (c) it may be your only day off in the week (d) you may make too much intellectual effort

Skimming

c 4 The risks of being a couch potato are _____. (a) minimal because potatoes are healthy (b) minimal because you are in your own home (c) real because you might put on a lot of weight (d) not as serious as the Oxford English Dictionary claims c 5 A mouse potato _____. (a) spends a lot of time travelling the world (b) can exchange mouse miles for potato chips (c) replaces traditional leisure activities with computerbased entertainment (d) spends all their time insulting people in Internet chat rooms

Digging

Leisure inactivities

MP3

译文

– or how to relax and do nothing1 Centuries ago people didn’t have much free time,

because everyone was working too hard. In Britain in the 19th century, people had more free time, but the Victorians thought relaxing and doing nothing was a sin. So to avoid temptation, they invented football and cricket. People took up more gentle leisure activities like bird-watching, and gardening, and it was even possible simply to watch a sport and be satisfied that you were actually doing something useful.

DiggingMP3译文

One instance of this is cricket, which is a peculiar game with weird rules, where nothing happens for five days, at the end of which the players often decide to call it a draw. And everyone playing or watching feels perfectly fulfilled by this non-event. It’s a good example of what we now call a leisure inactivity.2

DiggingMP3

译文

Gradually over the years, leisure inactivities have involved even less interaction. In the 1990s a new leisure creature evolved, one who thinks that lying on the sofa watching sport or DVDs on the television is the most exciting inactivity they can manage. This is the couch potato.3